Bishop Grosseteste gets university title

Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln has met the criteria to use the title university, the government has announced.

Once the new name has been formally signed off by the Privy Council, the institution will change its name to Bishop Grosseteste University. It has unveiled its new corporate identity today.

The Government announced in June that it would reduce the number of students required for an institution to be able to use the university title from 4,000 to 1,000.

“2012 has been a very special year for our institution, one in which we have celebrated 150 years of higher education in Lincoln,” said Professor Muriel Robinson, who will become the first Vice Chancellor of Bishop Grosseteste University.

“To be able to take our place alongside other UK universities is a symbolic moment for us which recognises the excellent teaching and research which goes on at BG.”

Under the previous rules only institutions with 4,000 or more students could use the title university. Smaller institutions were called university colleges, but now all HE institutions with more than 1,000 students have the right to apply to call themselves a university.

This brings the UK regulations in line with practice elsewhere in the world, where small and specialist universities are common.